JP2003080379A - Friction stirring bonding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a friction stirring bonding device which delivers metallic material even when pin is inserted, reduces a delivery load and enhances a stirring efficiency between the delivered metallic material and base material. SOLUTION: A rotator 11 of this friction stirring bonding device 10 has the pin 14 projecting from the tip. A through-hole 15 is formed along a rotating axial line L up to a pin part on the rotor 11, is bent at the pin part and is opened at a corner part of the cylindrical pin 14. On the bonding, the metallic material 16 is inserted into the through-hole 15 and is delivered from the opening. The metallic material 16 is delivered from not the pin center but the corner part, therefore, the delivery load is reduced, a friction efficiency is improved and also the stirring efficiency with the base material is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a friction stir welding apparatus for softening and stirring objects to be welded by frictional heat generated by rotation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A friction stir welding apparatus is an apparatus for pressing a work, which is a material to be welded, while rotating the rotor at high speed, and softening and stirring the work by friction heat generated at the tip of the rotor to weld the work. . A pin projects from the center of the flat surface of the rotor at the tip of the rotor, and at the time of joining, the pin and the flat surface of the tip (hereinafter referred to as the shoulder portion) are pressed against the work and stirred. Therefore, at the time of joining, there is a problem that the base material scatters due to rotation, or the shoulder portion is plastically fluidized so as to rise around, and the joining portion becomes concave (undercut). Also, since the pin is inserted and joined, a pin recess is formed after the pin is pulled out.

In view of these problems, a method has been proposed in which a metal material is supplied at the time of joining to prevent formation of a recess. FIG. 8 shows the structure of the rotor 1 capable of delivering the metal material. The rotor 1 has an insertion hole 2 that opens at the center of the tip of the pin 4.
Are formed so as to penetrate along the rotation axis of the rotor 1, and when joining, the metal material 3 is delivered from the tip of the pin. The delivered metal material 3 is also softened and agitated by frictional heat and becomes integrated with the base material. This prevents the formation of recesses after joining.

[0004]

In the technique described above, the insertion hole 2 is formed in a straight line along the axis L of the rotor 1, and the metal material 3 is fed out vertically from the center of the pin. Therefore, when inserting the pin, a large load is applied to the metal material,
There is a problem that the metal material cannot be delivered.

Further, the metal material 3 is delivered from the center of the pin, but since the center of the pin is the center of rotation, the friction efficiency is poor and it is difficult to soften, which is a load for delivery.

Further, since the sending portion is concentrated on one point, so to speak, there is also a problem that the sent metal material becomes a lump and is hardly stirred with the base material.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a friction stir welding apparatus capable of delivering a metal material even when a pin is inserted, reducing the delivery load, and improving the efficiency of agitating the delivered metal material and the base material. Is to provide.

[0008]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, a columnar pin projects from the tip and presses the tip of a rotor rotating at a high speed against the article to be joined, and the tip and the article to be joined. In a friction stir welding apparatus that joins objects to be welded by agitating the contact portion with and softening by frictional heat due to rotation, it has a delivery means for delivering a metal material, and the rotor is delivered from the delivery means. The metal material to be inserted is inserted, the insertion hole that opens at the corner of the tip of the columnar pin is formed, and at the time of joining, the metal material sent out from the pin is also softened by friction heat and stirred to be integrated with the article to be joined. It is a friction stir welding apparatus characterized by the above.

According to the present invention, the insertion hole opens at the corner of the pin tip. Therefore, the load applied to the metal material at the time of inserting the pin is reduced as compared with the conventional technique in which the pin is fed vertically at the center of the pin. This allows the metal material to be delivered even when the pin is inserted. Further, since the metal material is delivered from the position displaced from the center of the pin in the radial direction, the friction efficiency of the delivered metal material and the stirring efficiency with the base material are also improved.

The insertion hole of the present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that it extends along the axis of rotation of the rotor, is curved at the tip and opens at the corner of the pin.

According to the present invention, since the insertion hole is curved at the tip of the pin, the metal material can be smoothly delivered.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a columnar pin projects from the tip, presses the tip of the rotor that rotates at high speed against the article to be joined, and the contact portion between the tip and the article is joined. In a friction stir welding apparatus that softens by frictional heat due to rotation and stirs to join objects to be joined, it has a sending-out means for sending out a metal material, and the rotor inserts the metal material sent out from the sending-out means. The friction stirrer is characterized in that an insertion hole that opens at the side of the columnar pin is formed, and at the time of joining, the metal material sent out from the pin is also softened by friction heat and stirred to be integrated with the object to be joined. It is a joining device.

According to the invention, the insertion hole opens at the side of the pin. Therefore, the load applied to the metal material at the time of inserting the pin is reduced as compared with the conventional technique in which the pin is fed vertically at the center of the pin. Further, since the metal material is delivered from the position displaced from the center of the pin in the radial direction, the friction efficiency of the delivered metal material and the stirring efficiency with the base material are also improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the opening of the insertion hole has a substantially conical shape.

According to the present invention, since the opening is formed so as to open in a substantially conical shape, the metal material is not concentrated and delivered at one point unlike the prior art. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sent metal material from being aggregated and not stirred, and the stirring efficiency is improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the insertion hole extends along the rotation axis of the rotor, is curved at the tip end portion, and is opened at the pin side portion.

According to the present invention, since the insertion hole is curved at the tip of the pin, the metal material can be smoothly delivered.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a columnar pin projects from the center of the flat end portion of the tip, presses the tip end of the rotor rotating at high speed against the article to be joined, and the tip end and the article are joined together. In a friction stir welding apparatus that joins objects to be welded by agitating the contact portion by frictional heat generated by rotation, the contact section has a delivery unit that delivers a metal material, and the rotor has a metal that is delivered from the delivery unit. The material is inserted, and an insertion hole that opens at the tip flat portion is formed, and at the time of joining, the metal material sent from the rotor tip is also softened by friction heat and stirred to be integrated with the article to be joined. It is a friction stir welding device.

According to the invention, the insertion hole opens at the flat portion of the rotor tip, that is, the shoulder portion. Therefore, the load applied to the metal material at the time of inserting the pin is reduced as compared with the conventional technique in which the pin is fed vertically at the center of the pin. Further, since the metal material is delivered from the position displaced from the center of the pin in the radial direction, the friction efficiency of the delivered metal material and the stirring efficiency with the base material are also improved.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the rotor is formed such that the upstream side in the rotational direction with respect to the opening of the insertion hole is lower than the downstream side in the rotational direction.

According to the present invention, since the opening of the insertion hole is formed so that the upstream side is lower than the downstream side in the rotation direction, when the pin is inserted into the material to be joined and rotated at a high speed,
Negative pressure is generated on the lower side, and it becomes easier to deliver the metal material.

[0022]

1 (1) is a front view showing a tip of a rotor 11 of a friction stir welding apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (2) is a left side of FIG. Rotor 1 as seen
1 is a side view of FIG. 1, and (3) is a perspective view of the pin 14 at the tip of the rotor. The friction stir welding device 10 includes a rotor 11
And a delivery means (not shown) for delivering the metal material to the insertion hole 15 of the rotor 11.

The rotor 11 has a substantially cylindrical shape, the lower end thereof is tapered in a conical shape, and the cylindrical portion 12 is formed at the tip thereof. The tip of the columnar portion 12 becomes a flat shoulder portion 13, and the pin 14 projects from the center of the shoulder portion 13 along the rotation axis L. The pin 14 is cylindrical and has a lower end surface 18
Is smooth and convex.

An insertion hole 15 is formed in the rotor 11 along the rotation axis L up to the pin portion, and the opening is formed by bending the pin portion.
7 is opened at a corner portion 20 of the columnar pin 14, that is, a connecting portion between the side surface 19 of the pin 14 and the lower end surface 18. The metal material 16 is inserted into the insertion hole 15 from the delivery means and delivered.

In the friction stir welding apparatus 10, two workpieces, which are materials to be welded, are superposed on each other, and a rotor 11 rotating at a high speed is pressed onto the workpieces to weld them. When the rotating pin 14 is pressed against the work, the work is softened by frictional heat, the pin 14 is inserted, and the shoulder portion 13 is pressed against the work. In this manner, the work is agitated by the pin 14 and the shoulder portion 13 and plastically flows by applying a predetermined pressing force and rotating the work. When spot-joining the workpieces, the rotor is pulled up after stirring at a joining point for a predetermined time with a predetermined pressing force. When the workpieces are continuously joined, the pin is moved along the joining line with the pin inserted, and the rotor is pulled up at the end of the joining line.

Such a friction stir welding apparatus 10 is attached to the wrist of an articulated robot that holds the rotor 11 in a rotatable and vertically movable manner, and is used as a welding robot.

In the present invention, the metal material 16 is a metal of the same quality as the work, and here, the work and the metal material 16 are aluminum alloys.

As described above, the insertion hole 15 has the pin 14
It opens at the corner portion 20. That is, since the metal material 16 is delivered from the position radially outward from the rotation axis L,
The relative speed of the metal material coming out of the opening 17 with respect to the base material is increased, and the friction efficiency is increased. As a result, the metal material 1
6. Both the base material and the base material have a high degree of softening, and the metal material 16 is easily delivered. As shown in FIG. 1 (4), the metal material 16 delivered in this way is agitated by rotation and mixed together with the base material.

The insertion hole 15 is not limited to be bent at the pin portion as shown in FIG. 1, but is smoothly curved at the pin portion as shown in the rotor 30 of FIG. 20
You may form so that it may open. By forming in this way, the metal material 16 can be delivered smoothly. 2 (1) is a front view of the tip of the rotor 30, and (2) is a side view of the tip of the rotor viewed from the left side of (1).

FIG. 3 (1) is a front view showing the tip of the rotor 41 of the friction stir welding apparatus 40 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (2) is viewed from the left side of (1). It is a side view of a rotor tip, and (3) is a perspective view of a pin 42 provided at the rotor tip. The rotor 41 has substantially the same configuration as the rotor 11 described with reference to FIG. 1 and only the insertion hole is different. Therefore, only the insertion hole will be described and other description will be omitted.

The insertion hole 43 of the rotor 41 is formed up to the pin portion along the rotation axis L, and becomes a substantially conical space 45 radially outward at the axially central portion of the pin 42.
A large opening is formed on the side surface 44 of the second side. That is, the insertion hole 43
Has a tip that opens laterally in a conical shape. Therefore, the opening 45 formed in the side surface 44 has the metal material 1
6 is larger than the outer diameter of the metal material 16, for example, 2 of the outer diameter of the metal material 16.
~ 5 times larger opening.

Since the delivered metal material 16 opens at the side surface 44 of the pin 42, the relative speed of the delivered metal material 16 to the base material is high and the friction efficiency is good. Further, since it has a large opening, it is not sent from one point and stirred, but the sent metal material is stirred in a large area as shown in FIG. 1 (4), and the stirring efficiency is further improved.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the axis near the opening 45 of the pin 42 as seen from the section line AA of FIG. 3 (1). Figure 4
As shown in, the pin 42 is formed such that the rear side b of the opening 45 in the rotation direction is lower than the front side a in the rotation direction. In other words, in the vicinity of the opening 45, the portion b on the rear side in the rotation direction is formed to be radially inward from the portion a on the front side in the rotation direction.

As a result, when the pin 42 that rotates at a high speed is inserted into the work, a negative pressure is generated in the portion b on the rear side in the rotation direction of the opening 45, and the metal material 16 is easily fed.

Further, the shape of the space 45 at the tip of the insertion hole 43 is not limited to the conical shape bent vertically from the straight portion of the insertion hole 43 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be formed so as to be smoothly curved and spread laterally from the insertion hole 43. Thereby, the metal material 16 can be smoothly delivered. 5 (1) is a front view of the tip of the rotor 50, and FIG. 5 (2) is a side view of the tip of the rotor as viewed from the left side of (1).

FIG. 6 (1) is a view showing a rotor 61 of a friction stir welding apparatus 60 according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The rotor 61 has the same configuration as the rotor 11 shown in FIG. 1 except that the positions of the insertion holes are different. Therefore, the corresponding components are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The insertion hole 62 of the rotor 61 has an upper opening 64 on the rotation axis L as shown in FIG.
The lower opening 63 opens at the shoulder portion 13. That is, the opening 63 of the insertion hole 62 is also positioned away from the rotation axis L, and the metal material 16 delivered from the opening 63.
Also, the relative speed with respect to the base material is increased, and the friction efficiency is improved. In this way, as shown in FIG. 7, the metal material 16 supplied from the shoulder portion 13 is efficiently agitated by the shoulder portion 13 as the rotor 61 rotates, and mixed with the base material integrally. Such delivery from the shoulder portion 13 is particularly effective in preventing undercut.

In each of the above embodiments, the opening portion of the insertion hole (metal material delivery port) when the pin is inserted or the shoulder is pressed.
Since the base material is not pressed or the pressing direction is deviated, the metal material can be delivered even when the pin is inserted, and the metal material delivery effect can be exhibited even at the beginning of joining.

As the feeding means of the metal material, for example, two feeding means of a type in which a metal wire is sandwiched between a pair of pinch rollers to feed the metal material and a type in which a metal rod cut into a predetermined length is sequentially pushed into an insertion hole and fed out Can be considered. In the friction stir welding devices 10 and 40 described above, the insertion hole is bent toward the side of the pin at the pin portion. Therefore, when the wire rod is fed by the pinch roller, the metal wire rod may rotate at the bent portion. is there. Therefore, in the friction stir welding apparatus 10 and 40, it is preferable that the metal material is not integrated from the feeding means to the opening of the insertion hole, and the above-mentioned feeding means of pushing the metal rod is preferable.

Further, in the case of the friction stir welding apparatus 60 for feeding the metal material from the shoulder portion, there is no possibility that the metal material will rotate (rotate), so that the metal material is integrated from the feeding means to the opening of the insertion hole. That is, it may be a feeding means that feeds the metal wire material with a pinch roller.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the insertion hole is opened at the corner of the tip of the pin, the load applied to the metal material at the time of inserting the pin is sent vertically to the center of the pin. It is reduced compared to. This allows the metal material to be delivered even when the pin is inserted. In addition, the metal material
Since it is delivered from a position displaced from the center of the pin in the radial direction, the friction efficiency of the delivered metal material and the stirring efficiency with the base material are also improved.

Further, according to the present invention, since the insertion hole is curved at the tip of the pin, the metal material can be smoothly delivered.

Further, according to the present invention, the insertion hole is opened at the side portion of the pin. Therefore, the load applied to the metal material at the time of inserting the pin is reduced as compared with the conventional technique in which the pin is fed vertically at the center of the pin. This allows the metal material to be delivered even when the pin is inserted. Further, since the metal material is delivered from the position displaced from the center of the pin in the radial direction, the friction efficiency of the delivered metal material and the stirring efficiency with the base material are also improved.

Further, according to the present invention, since the opening is formed so as to open in a substantially conical shape, the metal material is not concentrated and delivered at one point unlike the prior art. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sent metal material from being aggregated and not stirred, and the stirring efficiency is improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the insertion hole is opened at the flat portion of the rotor tip, that is, the shoulder portion. Therefore, the load applied to the metal material at the time of inserting the pin is reduced as compared with the conventional technique in which the pin is fed vertically at the center of the pin. Also,
Since the metal material is delivered from the position displaced from the center of the pin in the radial direction, the friction efficiency of the delivered metal material and the stirring efficiency with the base material are also improved.

Further, according to the present invention, since the opening of the insertion hole is formed so that the upstream side in the rotation direction is lower than the downstream side, when the pin is inserted into the material to be joined and rotated at a high speed, Negative pressure is generated on the lower side, and it becomes easier to deliver the metal material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a tip of a rotor 11 of a friction stir welding apparatus 10.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a tip of a rotor 30.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a tip of a rotor 41 of a friction stir welding device 40.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the section line AA of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a tip of a rotor 50.

6 is a diagram showing a rotor 61 of the friction stir welding device 60. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a joined state of a rotor 61.

FIG. 8 is a conventional rotor 1 having a mechanism for feeding a metal material.
FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 40, 60 Friction stir welding device 11,30,41,50,61 Rotor 14 pin 15,43,62 insertion holes 16 Metal material

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A columnar pin projects from the tip, presses the tip of a rotor that rotates at high speed against the article to be joined, and softens the contact portion between the tip and the article to be joined by frictional heat generated by rotation. In the friction stir welding apparatus for joining the objects to be agitated by welding, there is a feed-out means for feeding out a metal material, the metal material fed out from the feed-out means is inserted into the rotor, and a corner of the tip of the columnar pin is inserted. The friction stir welding apparatus is characterized in that an insertion hole opened at the portion is formed, and at the time of welding, the metal material sent out from the pin is also softened by friction heat and stirred to be integrated with the object to be welded. 2. The friction stir welding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertion hole extends along a rotation axis of the rotor, is curved at a tip portion and opens at a corner portion of the pin. 3. A columnar pin projects from the tip, presses the tip of a rotor that rotates at high speed against the article to be joined, and softens the contact portion between the tip and the article to be joined by frictional heat generated by rotation. In a friction stir welding apparatus for welding objects to be welded by stirring, there is a feeding means for feeding a metal material, and the metal material fed out from the feeding means is inserted into the rotor, and a side portion of a columnar pin is provided. The friction stir welding apparatus is characterized in that the metal material sent out from the pin is softened by friction heat at the time of welding and is stirred to be integrated with the object to be welded. 4. The friction stir welding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the opening of the insertion hole has a substantially conical shape. 5. The friction stir welding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the insertion hole extends along a rotation axis of the rotor, is curved at a tip end portion, and opens at a pin side portion. 6. A columnar pin projects from the center of the flat surface of the tip to press the tip of the rotor rotating at high speed against the article to be joined,
A friction stir welding apparatus for softening a contact portion between the tip end portion and the article to be joined by frictional heat generated by rotation, stirring and joining the article to be joined, having a feeding means for feeding a metal material, the rotor The metal material delivered from the delivery means is inserted into the through hole, and an insertion hole that opens at the tip flat portion is formed.At the time of joining, the metal material delivered from the rotor tip is also softened by friction heat and stirred to be covered. A friction stir welding device characterized by being integrated with a welded object. 7. The rotor is formed so that the upstream side in the rotational direction with respect to the opening of the insertion hole is lower than the downstream side in the rotational direction.
Friction stir welding apparatus as described in 1.